Flower visitors in agricultural farms of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve: Do forests act as pollinator reservoirs?

Viswanathan, Poornima; Mammides, Christos; Roy, Pratim; Sharma, Manju V.

doi:10.1080/00218839.2020.1762994

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 65 publications

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“…Further evidence of such a local influence on bee abundance is provided by the statistically significant effects of neighboring roads, bodies of water, and forests. Hence, our results provide evidence for the Bangalore area of the positive relationship between pollinator communities and forests or agroforestry systems that is emphasized in the literature (Motzke et al 2016;Staton et al 2019;Tibesigwa et al 2019;Viswanathan et al 2020).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

“…Often fragmented or diverse agricultural landscapes are associated with positive effects on pollinator populations (Krishnan et al 2012;Chakraborty et al 2021). In such landscapes pollinators benefit from forest patches, field margins, and other natural habitats between agricultural plots (Priess et al 2007;Tibesigwa et al 2019;Halinski et al 2020;Viswanathan et al 2020). We also find evidence of such a positive association.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…However, these studies (except for Basu et al (2016)) do not consider spatial scaling and landscape-wide spillovers, which seems important in light of our estimation results. Studies that analyze effects at the landscape level typically only consider the effects of aggregated farming systems and land use in the landscape in question (for example measured in percentage shares of different types of land use), or the influence of distance to natural habitats (Holzschuh et al 2007;Motzke et al 2016;Nicholson et al 2017;Tibesigwa et al 2019;Viswanathan et al 2020). A key advantage of our modeling approach is that it can identify spatial spillovers of specific plotlevel farming practices, such as agricultural input use.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a consequence, farm management is often considered in an aggregate fashion and non-crop plants or access to natural habitats (e.g., home gardens versus natural forests) play a major role when analyzing pollinator communities (Tscharntke and Brandl 2004;Tscharntke et al 2005;Blitzer et al 2012;Motzke et al 2016;Tibesigwa et al 2019;Viswanathan et al 2020). However, since pollinators can move between agricultural plots and natural habitats, ecological and anthropogenic boundaries do not necessarily coincide.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of local farm management on wild bees through temporal and spatial spillovers: evidence from Southern India

et al. 2022

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Context The agricultural landscape in many low- and middle-income countries is characterized by smallholder management systems, often dependent on ecosystem services, such as pollination by wild pollinator populations. Increased adoption of modern inputs (e.g., agrochemicals) may threaten pollinators and smallholder crop production. Objective We aimed to identify the link between the use of agrochemicals and wild bee populations in Southern India, while explicitly considering the effects of temporal and spatial scaling. Methods For our empirical analysis, we combined data from pan trap samples and a farm management survey of 127 agricultural plots around Bangalore, India. We implemented a Poisson generalized linear model to analyze factors that influence bee abundance and richness with a particular focus on the present, past, and neighboring management decisions of farmers with respect to chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and irrigation. Results Our results suggest that agricultural intensification is associated with a decrease in the abundance and richness of wild bees in our study areas. Both time and space play an important role in explaining farm-bee interactions. We find statistically significant negative spillovers from pesticide use. Smallholders’ use of chemical fertilizers and irrigation on their own plots significantly decreases the abundance of bees. Intensive past management reduces both bee abundance and richness. Conclusions Our results suggest that cooperative behavior among farmers and/or the regulation of agrochemical use is crucial to moderate spatial spillovers of farm management decisions. Furthermore, a rotation of extensive and intensive management could mitigate negative effects.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 59%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effects of local farm management on wild bees through temporal and spatial spillovers: evidence from Southern India

et al. 2022

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“…In terms of land con guration, native forests are known to play a bene cial role in wild bee populations (Aizen & Feinsinger, 2003;Ghazoul et al, 1998;Schrader et al, 2018), largely because native trees and older trees provide suitable nesting substrates for bees such as Apis dorsata (Thomas et al, 2009) and Tetragonula species (Bhatta et al, 2019). Proximity to forests or semi-natural sites increases pollinator species richness and abundance within agricultural systems (Blanche et al, 2006;Blanche & Cunningham, 2005;Chacoff & Aizen, 2006;Free, 1993;Kremen et al, 2002Kremen et al, , 2004Morandin & Winston, 2006;Ricketts, 2004;Viswanathan et al, 2020Viswanathan et al, , 2020Widhiono & Sudiana, 2016). Natural forests and semi-natural plots play an important role for pollinators and their delivery of pollination services in several important cash crops, including coffee and spices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Factors influencing pollinator abundance in Indigenous coffee farms of the Nilgiris, Western Ghats, India

Sharma

Viswanathan

Leo

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Wild pollinators are shown to be declining in many parts of the world where data and evidence exist; trends could be similar in other regions, but data and evidence are lacking. Land-use change is recognized as the top driver of biodiversity loss, including pollinator loss. In this study, we focused on coffee plantations in Indigenous land holdings in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in the Western Ghats of India, where changing agricultural practices and reducing tree shade diversity and/or changing tree cover type may threaten pollinator communities. We assessed pollinator abundance, through scan sampling of flowers, in ten coffee farms — five of which had (Grevillea robusta) silver oak as shade trees and five of which had native tree species. We then evaluated the combined effect of (a) tree cover type, (b) distance from the forest edge, and (c) area under coffee cultivation on the abundance of four dominant coffee pollinators (Apis dorsata, A. cerana, A. florea, and Tetragonula iridipennis) and the abundance of Xylocopa sp., which is also known as a coffee pollinator. We found that the abundances of all five species were associated positively with the area under coffee cultivation. The abundance of A. cerana and T. iridipennis were also associated with the distance from the forest edge; the closer a farm to the forest, the more individuals of A. cerana and T. iridipennis were found visiting coffee flowers on the farm. Lastly, we found no statistically significant relationship between the abundances of the five species examined and tree cover type (either mixed native forest trees or silver oak (G. robusta)). The absence of a pattern may have been driven partly by our relatively small sample size since the abundances of A. cerana, A. florea, and T. iridipennis were on average higher in farms with native tree species. Our results suggest that maintaining forests near coffee systems increases insect pollinator abundance (i.e., delivery of pollination services) in the case of A. cerana and T. iridipennis and maintaining forest cover with native tree species composition plays a role in supporting pollinator habitats as well as providing foraging resources. Implications for insect conservation In working with Indigenous land holdings in India, our results show that forests and land use (area under cultivation) play a key role in maintaining bee pollinators in coffee agroecosystems and further investigation is needed to clarify the role of tree cover type and insect populations.

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Orchards closer to forest patches produced fewer malformed fruits and more commercial fruits: The importance of legitimate floral visitors

Severiano-Galeana,

Rosas-Guerrero,

Alemán-Figueroa

et al. 2024

Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment

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Flower visitors in agricultural farms of Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve: Do forests act as pollinator reservoirs?

Cited by 4 publications

References 65 publications

Effects of local farm management on wild bees through temporal and spatial spillovers: evidence from Southern India

Effects of local farm management on wild bees through temporal and spatial spillovers: evidence from Southern India

Factors influencing pollinator abundance in Indigenous coffee farms of the Nilgiris, Western Ghats, India

Orchards closer to forest patches produced fewer malformed fruits and more commercial fruits: The importance of legitimate floral visitors

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